Harry's Words
by The Straight Elf
Summary: Just a few word prompts set in my story Infliction in order to get me used to writing again.


**A/N: Sorry for not writing anything for a long time to anyone who was waiting for my other stories. School and sports have gotten in the way, and to be frank, I've been lazy. This is just something I wrote to get myself back into form. I focused this in the future of my Infliction story, if I ever remember to write it anyways. It's just nine random word prompts. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

1. Speech

Harry always had a silver tongue. Whether it was in that damned orphanage, or in the care of Bella, he had always managed to talk his way out of situations.

Sure, it never took away the fear and general suspicion that surrounded him in the orphanage, and even when he had Bella eating out the palm of his hand she would still throw weak curses at him, but it helped. He shuddered when he thought of the curses Bella would put him under when he wasn't able to talk his way out of things; it put any other punishment to shame.

He had learned it as a skill to survive, to manipulate, and to charm. His silver tongue had rarely failed to seal his successes, and he planned to keep it that way.

2. Limit

Even in the orphanage, Harry knew he had less limits than the other children. Although they would tease and bully him, he always got his revenge. He had _power. _He had the ability to make them suffer, to give them back twofold what they had given him.

But most of all, he knew he was better than him because of that power. Harry was always smarter than the other children, always more cunning, and he made sure they knew that every chance he could.

When Bella and Rodolphus saved him, he found that he was _weak_ compared to them. Although they assured him he had power, he didn't know what to do with that power. He began to push his limits at every opportunity, taking every bit of advice he could to expand his power and better himself.

Now, he knew he had limits. They were so far away, but still there. Instead of fighting it, he accepted it. Harry knew that even the greatest wizards have limits.

He would just have to make sure his were far beyond the others.

3. Plotter

He had always been a planner, making plans within plans for his vengeance at the orphanage. They were simple plans, meant to outwit preteens and teenagers, but they still developed his abilities.

Bella and Rodolphus developed his talent into an art. They taught him to recognize the barest hints of emotion on faces, to read body language. His saviors showed him how to foresee different peoples' reactions to different scenarios, how to pick just the right wording to feed to his targets.

But most importantly, they taught him how to see it as a big game of chess, to never feel anything towards his pieces. They enabled all of his future skill.

4. Fight

Harry always loved fighting, whether it was the early adrenaline of the crude fist fights at the orphanage, or the cold ruthlessness of dueling with powerful spells. Fighting was his most useful skill. It let him succeed where his manipulations and silver tongue failed him.

It was another of the things he was good at, something that he took to naturally. Bella had taken great delight in teaching him how to duel with everything at his disposal, whether it was his surroundings or spells so horrific that Harry had trouble keeping his stomach in at first. She taught him how pain affected the fight, how a single painful curse could be a hundred times more effective than more conventional dueling methods.

He had become quite skilled with the cruciatus curse, something that pleased Bella to no end. Although he didn't get the glee that Bella did when he cast the curse, he liked it for the fear it caused, the utter revulsion it struck into the hearts of others. He had seen firsthand how it simply _crushed_ the morale of his opponents, and he loved it.

Rodolphus taught him how to use transfiguration- something Rodolphus excelled at- in his duel. Whether it was a wall to block incoming spells or transforming his surroundings into savage animals, Harry was taught how useful it could become.

Their training made him a weapon to be feared, a teenager with enough power and ruthlessness to excel in any skirmish he was involved in.

5. Named

In public, when their strange family was heavily glamoured or polyjuiced, they came up with a myriad of names to call him. After word of his disappearance leaked out amongst the Wizarding World, everyone was on edge. The name of Harry would cause a dozen wizards to leap to their feet, brandishing their wands with hopeful looks on their faces.

Harry was always called a nickname. He was never called anything that anyone could trace to anyone.

He was Bella's little serpent, Rodolphus' student. On occasions when they had to have names, he was given one appropriate for a Black or Lestrange. He had been Orion Venant, Crux Detester, Cygnus Pevoir.

Harry liked all of his names, although he preferred to be Harry Lestrange. It felt far more…right…than the false names.

6. Upbringing

Compared to other magical children, Harry had a rather strange upbringing. Bella and Rodolphus demanded the best he could give, and never relented. He never complained though. Harry knew that all they wanted was for him to become the very best he could be, and to bring their world back into the Dark.

He was always given everything he wanted of course, as long as it was sensible. When his parseltongue ability was revealed to his ecstatic guardians, he had received a massive, poisonous green python. Although it wasn't poisonous, or magical, it was a powerful serpent befitting a wizard of his stature.

When they were accosted by a filthy thief in Knockturn Alley and Harry successfully cast an organ-expelling curse on the fool, Bella bought him a book on the Dark Arts that held powerful curses and rituals. The family had quite a bit of fun teaching Harry how to use the curses on muggles.

7. Traveling

They were always traveling, always running away from the Ministry and the pathetic aurors. By the time he was eleven, Harry had been all over Europe. He'd seen magical cities throughout France and Germany, toured the dragon reserves of Romania, saw the temples where the most powerful wizards of Greece were worshipped.

In a way, it was all he knew. The moment he was healed and educated enough to know the wonders of the magical world the Lestranges had begun their mad dash from England. Although they returned every year or so, it was generally to reaffirm their contacts and keep up on the times.

They still had several safe houses spread throughout the isles, and sometimes prepared new ones, but for the most part they simply travelled to the far flung areas of Europe. Harry hoped it never changed.

8. Praise

It wasn't something Harry received often. He knew that his family was proud of him and his achievements, but they never verbalized it. The only time he ever received praise was when he cast his first fiendfyre in a magical neighborhood to escape from the aurors, destroying most of it and incinerating their pursuers.

Bella was cackling madly and dancing ecstatically as soon as they were safe, and Rodolphus was actually smiling. Harry wish he'd been able to savor that night for as long as he could, although the casting of such a powerful and advanced spell had practically knocked him unconscious.

Only the adrenaline of the fight had kept him moving, and the last thing he saw before he started flickering in and out of consciousness were flaming dragons and wyverns roaring out massive pillars of arcane fire.

He was awake when they got to the safe house, and even managed to get his ribs cracked by Bella's hug before he fell asleep.

9. Victory

Even in the orphanage, Harry was always victorious. Not immediately, but he would always win whatever twisted game he was a participant in. Through a combination of cruelty, cunning, and power he would win.

That same rule served him well in the Wizarding World. To win in the duels against the aurors, Harry had to use the most brutal, horrifying curses, had to exploit everything he saw to his advantage.

And most of all, he had to be stronger than they were. He had to know the curses, had to know how to tear a man's spine out with a flick of his wand by the age of ten. Bella taught him everything he needed to know in order to emerge victorious, and Rodolphus taught him how to use that knowledge.

Thanks to his family, Harry Lestrange always won.


End file.
